Aging And Fitness Paper
I chose to do my research paper on Aging and Fitness. I choose this because I am an active person along with my fiancé and would like to find out the effects of staying active while you age. I’ve heard if you stay fit, you live longer. Is this really true? I want to know if it is how much longer a person can live versus a person who does not get much physical activity. Aging and Fitness is related to human aging in general through many ways. Regular exercise helps prevent the risk of disease and also keeps a person mobile. Since disease and immobility leads too often to death in older people, staying active helps a person live a longer life.
It 's never too late to start exercising. By being physically active, elderly people have …show more content…
a better chance to continue the things they love to do and allow them to stay independent as they continue to age. In addition, the right kind of regular exercise can reduce the chance of heart disease, diabetes, and falls.
The hardest part about beginning a regular fitness plan for the elderly or really any person at any age is getting started.
Once started, the benefits of exercise will be noticed, including improved sleep and self-esteem. Exercise and physical activity can improve or maintain your strength and fitness, make it easier to do the things you want to do, help your balance and walking, help with feelings of depression or anxiety and improve your mood, maintain your thinking skills (cognitive function) as you get older, prevent or treat diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, breast and colon cancer, and osteoporosis ("Exercise and age," …show more content…
2012).
Not only does exercise make most people feel better, perform physical tasks better and reduce the risk of disability due to arthritis, it now appears that exercise, specifically, resistance training, actually rejuvenates muscle tissue in healthy senior citizens ("Exercise reverses aging," 2012).
A study done by the Arthritis Foundation have suggested that dysfunction of mitochondria, the “powerhouse†of the cell, is involved in the loss of muscle mass and functional impairment commonly seen in older people. Studies have shown that in older adults, there is a decline in mitochondrial function with age. A group of 25 healthy older men and women (average age of 70 years) had muscle tissue samples taken and compared to the gene profile from muscle samples taken from 26 younger healthy men and women (average age 21 years). Fourteen of the older adults completed six months of twice-weekly resistance training and the results were then compared to the younger adults. The older adults were relatively active (golfing, walking, gardening, tennis, cycling three or more times a week but were not competitive athletes) and healthy; the younger adults were relatively inactive or participated in modest recreational activities, and none were athletes. These inclusion criteria allowed the investigators to study the effect of aging with subjects selected to be matched for activity level and not merely the effect of inactivity. None of participants took medication or had diseases that
could alter mitochondrial function. The resistance training was done on standard gym equipment. The twice-weekly sessions ran an hour in length and involved 30 contractions of each muscle group involved. Strength was tested based on knee extension, and tissue samples were taken from thigh muscles ("Exercise reverses aging," 2012). Results in the current study showed that mitochondrial dysfunction was the most common “theme†to emerge from the gene expression profile. Exercise resulted in a reversal of the genetic profile back to levels similar to those seen in the younger adults. Furthermore, the resistance training increased the older group’s muscle strength. Before exercise training, the older adults were 59% weaker than the younger adults; but after training, the strength of the older adults improved by about 50%, such that they were only 38% weaker than the young adults. This study gives people one more reason to get physically active. Not only will it help attain or maintain a healthy weight and reduce the risk of disability due to arthritis, this study now shows that it may actually reverse the biologic aging that takes place in muscle cells ("Exercise reverses aging," 2012). Being physically fit after age 60 helps you live longer, regardless of your body 's fat content.
In my opinion, I think fitness is an important part to know when studying human aging because of all the benefits it has on aging. Knowing what can help the elderly feel better about themselves is very important. Keeping them motivated and active will keep them feeling better and at a lower risk of disease and immobility. If a person is planning on going to a field working with older adults it is important to keep some type of physical activity available for them. I think if more older adults knew about the awesome benefits staying active has, they would be more willing to exercise and stay mobile.
If I get into a field working with older adults for example a nursing home I think I would incorporate my findings into providing a better physical activity program to meet the requirements of each individual.
There are many physical and emotional problems that can occur during aging. The more active you are the more chance you have of keeping on top of these problems and not having them affect you in your later years in life. Many of the physical and emotional problems of aging include depression, hip and joint problems, arthritis, heart problems, breathing problems, and lack of mobility or flexibility. During the aging process starting some type of fitness program should first require a visit to your doctor so that you can make sure that whatever activity you are planning to add to your lifestyle is doctor approved. You want to be sure that your physical condition is going to allow you to safely incorporate fitness into your lifestyle and the aging of your body. Once your doctor has approved your decision to add some type of activity into your life you can start by slowly making changes in your daily routine so that you can make changes in a positive and healthy manner ("Aging and fitness," ).
Works Cited:
Aging and fitness. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.bhia.org/articles/aging/agingandfitness.html Exercise and age. (2012, Feburary 28). Retrieved from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002080.htm
Exercise reverses aging in muscle. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.arthritis.org/exercise-reverse-aging.php
It 's never too late to start exercising. By being physically active, elderly people have …show more content…
a better chance to continue the things they love to do and allow them to stay independent as they continue to age. In addition, the right kind of regular exercise can reduce the chance of heart disease, diabetes, and falls.
The hardest part about beginning a regular fitness plan for the elderly or really any person at any age is getting started.
Once started, the benefits of exercise will be noticed, including improved sleep and self-esteem. Exercise and physical activity can improve or maintain your strength and fitness, make it easier to do the things you want to do, help your balance and walking, help with feelings of depression or anxiety and improve your mood, maintain your thinking skills (cognitive function) as you get older, prevent or treat diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, breast and colon cancer, and osteoporosis ("Exercise and age," …show more content…
2012).
Not only does exercise make most people feel better, perform physical tasks better and reduce the risk of disability due to arthritis, it now appears that exercise, specifically, resistance training, actually rejuvenates muscle tissue in healthy senior citizens ("Exercise reverses aging," 2012).
A study done by the Arthritis Foundation have suggested that dysfunction of mitochondria, the “powerhouse†of the cell, is involved in the loss of muscle mass and functional impairment commonly seen in older people. Studies have shown that in older adults, there is a decline in mitochondrial function with age. A group of 25 healthy older men and women (average age of 70 years) had muscle tissue samples taken and compared to the gene profile from muscle samples taken from 26 younger healthy men and women (average age 21 years). Fourteen of the older adults completed six months of twice-weekly resistance training and the results were then compared to the younger adults. The older adults were relatively active (golfing, walking, gardening, tennis, cycling three or more times a week but were not competitive athletes) and healthy; the younger adults were relatively inactive or participated in modest recreational activities, and none were athletes. These inclusion criteria allowed the investigators to study the effect of aging with subjects selected to be matched for activity level and not merely the effect of inactivity. None of participants took medication or had diseases that
could alter mitochondrial function. The resistance training was done on standard gym equipment. The twice-weekly sessions ran an hour in length and involved 30 contractions of each muscle group involved. Strength was tested based on knee extension, and tissue samples were taken from thigh muscles ("Exercise reverses aging," 2012). Results in the current study showed that mitochondrial dysfunction was the most common “theme†to emerge from the gene expression profile. Exercise resulted in a reversal of the genetic profile back to levels similar to those seen in the younger adults. Furthermore, the resistance training increased the older group’s muscle strength. Before exercise training, the older adults were 59% weaker than the younger adults; but after training, the strength of the older adults improved by about 50%, such that they were only 38% weaker than the young adults. This study gives people one more reason to get physically active. Not only will it help attain or maintain a healthy weight and reduce the risk of disability due to arthritis, this study now shows that it may actually reverse the biologic aging that takes place in muscle cells ("Exercise reverses aging," 2012). Being physically fit after age 60 helps you live longer, regardless of your body 's fat content.
In my opinion, I think fitness is an important part to know when studying human aging because of all the benefits it has on aging. Knowing what can help the elderly feel better about themselves is very important. Keeping them motivated and active will keep them feeling better and at a lower risk of disease and immobility. If a person is planning on going to a field working with older adults it is important to keep some type of physical activity available for them. I think if more older adults knew about the awesome benefits staying active has, they would be more willing to exercise and stay mobile.
If I get into a field working with older adults for example a nursing home I think I would incorporate my findings into providing a better physical activity program to meet the requirements of each individual.
There are many physical and emotional problems that can occur during aging. The more active you are the more chance you have of keeping on top of these problems and not having them affect you in your later years in life. Many of the physical and emotional problems of aging include depression, hip and joint problems, arthritis, heart problems, breathing problems, and lack of mobility or flexibility. During the aging process starting some type of fitness program should first require a visit to your doctor so that you can make sure that whatever activity you are planning to add to your lifestyle is doctor approved. You want to be sure that your physical condition is going to allow you to safely incorporate fitness into your lifestyle and the aging of your body. Once your doctor has approved your decision to add some type of activity into your life you can start by slowly making changes in your daily routine so that you can make changes in a positive and healthy manner ("Aging and fitness," ).
Works Cited:
Aging and fitness. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.bhia.org/articles/aging/agingandfitness.html Exercise and age. (2012, Feburary 28). Retrieved from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002080.htm
Exercise reverses aging in muscle. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.arthritis.org/exercise-reverse-aging.php